CA Smog :-(

My 2001 V-6 Tacoma with 166K on it wont pass smog. It's saying my Catalyst monitor is not ready. The guy at the smog shop says thats the only thing stopping me from passing.

My only code is a trans code, Torque converter Solinoid.
If I drive around with the OD (off). the check engine light will stay off.
I have been driving the truck to work 50 miles a day round trip with the over drive off. no codes. I even drove the truck from San Diego to Yuma and back for work, And used overdrive with no probs and No check engine light.

But the stupid Catalyst monitor is still not ready. I've put almost 2000 miles on it without the check engine light coming on .

What can I do to get the thing to pass. I need to register it.

I hate CA

 

Keep going to shops till you find one that will " fix the problem " with a couple extra greenbacks. I did the deck plate mod. And this shop wasn't gonna let my truck pass smog and I even had the cover on. So I went to the shop down the road he looked at his co worker and his co worker looked at him and they both looked at me and acted like it wasn't there. I got my paperwork and left.

 

CATALYST (A/F SENSOR) MONITOR DRIVE CYCLE
Certain Models 1998-2002

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

• MIL must be off.
• ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) must be 176E F (80E C) or more.
• IAT (Intake Air Temperature) must be 14E F (-10E C) or more.
  
  (2002 MY vehicles will run monitor at temperatures below 14E F by cycling key to OFF and repeating drive trace).

Driving Procedure:

1. Connect Scan tool in order to observe data stream and monitor status.
2. Note the IAT data for use in step 3.
3. Drive the vehicle at a steady speed between 40-55 mph (64-88 km/h) or more for 7 minutes if IAT was below 50E F (10E C) at start-up, or 3 minutes if IAT was above 50E F (10E F) at start-up.
4. Drive the vehicle allowing speed to fluctuate between 35-45 mph (56-72 km/h) for 16 minutes.

Notes: Maintain smooth throttle inputs, avoiding sudden accelerations. Avoid sudden deceleration with closed throttle as much as possible.

 

LMAO I have cold Air intake and the TRD Supercharger The guy didnt even care about that stuff.

 

The TRD supercharger is well known to be CA smog legal so that shouldn't ever be a problem, I have heard that some shops will fail you though if you don't have the sticker under the hood from TRD that states it's legality. I don't think CAI's affect CA smog tests either. But a check engine light, yes. Will fail smog every time until it's taken care of.

Sorry I can't be of much help with your code, I haven't run across that one before. Hope you're able to get it worked out.

 

Yea Everything under the hood is legal and has the sticker saying so.
I havnt had the CEL come on in Almost two months now.

 

But it comes on if you have OD on? If I'm understanding the original post correctly?

That would mean it is still stored in the truck's ECU, so the test will continue to fail. Do you know what the number for the code is? There's a website that pops up when you google CEL codes that's helpful in narrowing down what to do to fix them, I can't remember what it's called but if you google the code it will come up.

 

CA smog does indeed suck, according to my truck's carfax it failed CA smog three times when it was transferred here from Arizona earlier this year, then it somehow passed the 4th time before being put up for sale on a Toyota lot. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous for when the time comes for me to get her smogged again in a couple years...

 

The CEL code I do get when i use OD is a torque converter solenoid code. I cleared it almost two months ago and it has not come back on.
I have a code reader. I have no stored codes everything is good. just the catalyst monitor is incomplete or not ready. The guy at the smog place said once that monitor resets or runs it's test ill be fine. He said (just keep driving it till the catalyst monitor runs)

I figured a trip to the Yuma proving grounds for a few days and a month and a half back and forth to work would have done the trick.

 

Do this i fallowed this with mine last week and it worked in one drive. I put 400 miles on it before that and it still didn't complete until fallowed that drive cycle.

1. Connect Scan tool in order to observe data stream and monitor status.
2. Note the IAT data for use in step 3.
3. Drive the vehicle at a steady speed between 40-55 mph (64-88 km/h) or more for 7 minutes if IAT was below 50E F (10E C) at start-up, or 3 minutes if IAT was above 50E F (10E F) at start-up.
4. Drive the vehicle allowing speed to fluctuate between 35-45 mph (56-72 km/h) for 16 minutes.

 

I'm pretty sure I do this every moring. I'll print this out and try to do this (exactly)

 

Not sure where you drive but i found is very hard to drive 35 to 45 for 16 minutes without slowing or stopping.

 

What's the actual error code?? p00???

 

I think it was P0770 Torque converter solenoid.
It hasnt came on in two months

 

The flow of traffic leaving town is pretty steady.
This might be a midnight freeway run to get the speeds and hold them for 15 mins when there is no one around.

 

I believe I am having the exact same problems. Had the truck checked out and everything looks fine. Was told to make a run to San Diego to try to clear it up. I just went down there a couple months ago so I assume it should have cleared up. I have noticed that my gas mileage sucks right now and averages 12 MPG. I would like to find a local mechanic that can help me out. Let me know what route you go because I'm sure we have the same issues. Feel free to contact me.

 

Here's a copy of my smog check. It says the catalyst for my OBDII monitor is not ready.
It also says it's due to the fact that the vehicle's on board computer system has not completed the emission system's self-checks.

 

Check your O2 sensors i had 190K wont pasd as O2 downstream. It threw no code as well, installed new sensor and 5 miles later passed like a champ.

 

This might have to wait a while. Child support is killin me. Gona have to park the truck for a while.

 

What about a "redneck reset"?

When I had the uber super sedan Audi (RS6), if there was a MIL or CEL, before doing anything else, it was suggested to disconnect the battery for 30 minutes.
This completely clears any errors but with the caveat of having to re-learn throttle position and auto-windows among several other features.

What about your MAF?